Bruce Rioch

Statistics

Caps 24

Goals 6

Biography

As a player Bruce Rioch made more than 550 appearances in the Football League and represented Scotland in 24 matches as the first Scottish captain to be born in England. As a manager, he has taken charge of clubs in England, the United States, and Denmark.

Rioch was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. He made his his league debut for Luton in November 1964 in a 1–0 defeat at home to Southend United. He became a regular member of the Luton team, scoring 24 goals and won the Fourth Division title in 1968. He moved to Aston Villa in July 1969 for a fee of £100,000, then a record fee paid by a Second Division side. He won a League Cup runners' up medal in 1971, Villa losing 2–0 to Tottenham Hotspur.

He moved to Derby County in February 1974, winning a League Championship medal. He joined Everton in December 1976, but returned to Derby County in September 1977. After a dispute with the Derby manager, Tommy Docherty, Rioch had brief loan spells with Birmingham City in December 1978 and with Sheffield United in March 1979. He then left the Baseball Ground to play for NASL side Seattle Sounders. While playing with Seattle Sounders in 1980 he was named to the NASL First Team All-Stars.He returned to England in October 1980 when he joined Torquay United as player-coach, working at first under Mike Green and then under Frank O'Farrell.